About The GAFM Global  Academy of Finance & Management ®

GAFM  ® Certifying Board and Accreditation Counsel -  ISO Certified 29990

The International Board of Standards of The GAFM ® is the world’s fastest growing professional standards board with more than 300,000 members, associates and affiliates in 155+ countries. The US headquarters for the International Board of Standards exclusively awards its registered certifications & board designations to qualifying candidates who meet the highest professional standards and assessment criteria. The US Board and Headquarters accredits and approves official GAFM ® ™ certification training programs worldwide where the GAFM  ® has hundreds of approved educational programs that are registered under the quality control policies. . The GAFM  ® Standards Board has been at the forefront of accredited education and exam standards for over a decade and works directly with accreditation agencies and governments to enforce the highest certification standards.

The GAFM owns and regulates certification, standards, accreditation, professional development policies, and assessment while the GAFM ® manages the alliances with global and offshore training programs and enforcement of certified programs and member rules..

In the last decade, The Board of Standards has been recognized or in consultation with the United Nations, Ministry of Finance of several countries, US Government, Chinese Government, Arab League/Arab Academy, Capital Markets Authority of Saudi Arabia, Brazil Government , DFM Dubai Stock Exchange (Dubai Financial Market), European Agencies, EU SROs, Singapore Government, Qatar Financial Center, Central Bank of Oman and others to provide standards, professional development and educational expertise to their employees. The Certification International Board of Standards ™ is also formally recognized or registered with regulators worldwide.

Our History

The Financial Analyst Standards Board and Professional Society was founded in the United States in 1996 with the work of the members of the Graduate Institute of Leadership. For over a decade, the Board of Standards headquarters has remained a global quality assurance advisory council with standards offices set up around the world. Since inception, the Board has held supreme authority over the issuance of any certifications, exams, trademark use and quality standards. Subsequently in December of 1999, the board began to approve or accredited qualified certification training programs offshore and set up offshore liaison offices in Asia, Latin America, and Europe and other locations. In 2001-2, The Founder and Chairman, Dr. Mentz, established Training alliances & relationships with the International Institute for Research IIR in Dubai and the State Economic and Trade Commission in China as "conditionally approved" offshore approved training bodies. Then in 2003, the US Leadership further expanded the Standards Body’s presence by forming alliances with the top accreditation bodies such as the ACBSP and AACSB while launching executive training programs in the Latin America, Middle-East, India, Asia, and Africa, under a new global accreditation structure. By this stage, the membership had grown to more than 20,000 professionals.

By 2005 the Academy Membership had achieved meteoric member growth to more than 150 countries, and membership now exceeded 35,000 recognized PhDs, MBAs and working professionals. Then, the legal counsel for the Academy formed trademark agreements and articulation agreements to recognize the ACBSP Accreditation Body and the AACSB Accreditation Body while also signing legal trademark coexistence agreements with CFA Institute AIMR, the CFP Board of Standards, and later the Arab League/Arab Academy. All of these special legal relationships have allowed the GAFM to maintain unmatched standards along with global brand recognition & protection.

With the Board of Standards now encompassing more than 300,000 members and with 100 % of our membership being global, the identity of the Academy had become a global brand. The founder, George Mentz, is quoted as saying, "We are the first in the world to approve the top 800 accredited business schools in the world. By doing this, the GAFM  ® Standards Board has transcended all other organizations by demanding the highest credentialing and standards in the world."

In December of 2005, at the global executive management meeting led by Dr. Mentz in New York, the board pushed for a much greater focus and investment on membership standards, and The Global Board shut down the Dubai Consulting Training Office and moved the Offshore Enforcement Headquarters to Singapore and expanded enforcement to offices in Saudi Arabia, EU Switzerland, Monterrey MX, Ghana, and Beijing. With this strategic move, the Arab League/Arab Academy, the Chinese Government, and other regulatory organizations were consulted as to enforcement regulatory power to recognize the GAFM ® certification programs. With a growing International focus and increasingly diverse markets the decision was made to re-launch the "Consulting Side" of the Academy with a more forward thinking identity – the GAFM ® Global Academy ™

GAFM ® ™ is focused not only on global best practice and standards implementation, but also on the distribution of knowledge capital to the key growth areas of the global economy. GAFM ® ™ also coordinates and accredits customized training for companies who wish to have their staff certified with an internationally recognized qualification, even for training conducted on an in-house basis. www.GAFM.com

What Qualifications does the GAFM ® ™ offer?

All qualifications are still issued directly from the GAFM ® International Board of Standards in the United States, and  the GAFM  ® has power to enforce over and accredit training providers and nominate and assess new members for certification. For working professionals there are essentially two choices for continuing to enhance their Resume & Curriculum-Vitae (CV). The first is secondary degree education through academic institutions where candidates earn University qualifications or Academic Awards and require the issuing authority to be registered with a department of education or similar. The second category are post-graduate professional credentials earned from a SRO Self Regulatory Organization or Boards of Standards where candidates meeting the requirements to earn Professional Qualifications. Charters, Board Certifications, Fellow/Diplomate Status, or Industry Awards. These professional designations are earned from a professional body and chartered entity that is legally established as a PDO professional development organization. The GAFM ® IBS Board is recognized globally as a Certifying Body and also works with and recognizes more non-profit educational institutions than any other certifying body in the world.

The GAFM  ® International Board of Standards is the certification and accrediting council with a global network of over 1000 + approved non profit training partners, established as the main legal body governing the standards and quality assurance of the certification board. This entity has the authority to issue qualifications, charters, designations, and awards to its members and each of the qualifications and curriculums are protected by trademarks and international copyrights disclosed and registered with governmental authorities. Our globally recognized designations, such as Chartered Wealth Manager ®, Master Financial Planner ®, Accredited Financial Analyst ®, AMC Accredited Management Accountant ®, AMC Accredited Management Consultant ®, CRA Certified  Risk Analyst ®, CIPM Certified International Project Manager ® and many others have are protected under international laws such as WIPO, GATT, Paris Convention Treaty, International Copyright Law,and International Trademark Law. CWM and other certifications are trademarked in international locations such as in USA, Singapore, New York, California, USPTO, WIPO, Paris Convention Countries, China, Hong Kong, The 22 Arab League Nations, and in the United Arab Emirates.. The IP Intellectual Property and qualifications remain effectively 'owned' by the US Board of Standards itself and offered in conjunction with our over 1000+ non-profit partners. Because the Board is a taxable legal entity, it actually contributes to society and humanity by supporting the poor, regional and national governments and government employees. Since all certifications have always been issued directly under United States laws, the board has been in compliance and in cooperation with the US government since inception.

When a professional completes a recognized accredited program and exams from a government recognized institution, the board certifies this individual as having met the criteria for membership if the candidate has satisfied the other requirements of ethics, experience, and graduate education. As long as this individual stays as a member of the society in "Good Standing", he or she retains the right to use the appropriate trademark on his business card, CV or email signature to show his professional qualification attained. To learn more about the GAFM ® certification requirements and accredited standards, our credentials have been disclosed published in the NASD, FINRA, US Department of Labor, and Wall Street Journal for public transparency for many years.

A message from the Founder : Prof. Dr. George Mentz JD, MBA, CWM ®

To see a list of our certifications, click here.

The IBS is a founder of the GAFM  Accreditation Commission & Council for Finance and Management.

The Accredited GAFM is the Certification Accreditation Council and also the Board of Standards. This board formulates the policies to maintain competency assurance. The highest standards are created when an organization demands experience, education, testing, accredited education, graduate, ethics, and continuing education. The Accreditation Council is the first in the world to demand Graduate Education or Equivalency as a policy.

The GAFM certifying body is  TUV-OE  Accredited ISO Certified 9001, and our Certification  marks are for Wealth Managers, Financial Analysts, Investment Bankers, Accountants and Degree holding Financial Planners conferred by the American Academy Board of Standards. To receive authorization or accreditation to use GAFM  Board Certification and Designations, the candidate must meet accredited education, degree, examination, experience, continuing education, and ethics requirements, and pay good standing or certification fees

Individuals who desire board certification, may apply to the Academy and petition for membership, certification and fellow status.   Apply Now

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